It's not so much that people under 21 can't drink that's my issue. It's that not only can we not drink, we can't go in bars to hang out with our friends because most states don't think "minors" should be exposed to a "drinking environment." I don't drink often or much when I do drink, and my days of binging are long passed. (That's soooo high school.)

In the state of Oregon, we have a particularly oppressive liquor commission, which basically classifies things as restaurants or bars, with no in between category. If it's a bar, minors can't go in. The regulations not only create a social separation between people under 21 and people over 21, it also stifles the business world and excludes an entire demographic from the music scene.

I recently moved, and to be honest, I don't even try to make friends. Nobody I work with is under 21, nobody I go to school with is under 21, and that's basically what people do to get to know each other better. They go out. I've been asked more than a few times if I want to go grab a drink after work... nope, can't do it. After telling the potential friend that I'm not 21, and I can't go out, they generally don't want anything to do with me socially.

That's what I mean when I talk about a "social separation."

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Weiner.